Police seize 132 counterfeit sites on Cyber Monday

After receiving multiple leads from trademark holders, investigations were held across the country

Kypost.com

WASHINGTON — Law enforcement agencies working together around the world reportedly seized 132 online domain names that were selling counterfeit goods to Cyber Monday and holiday shoppers, the U.S. Immigration and Custom's Enforcement says.

The websites were allegedly selling counterfeit goods to consumers who had no idea that the goods were in fact counterfeit.

Online sales on Cyber Monday, which was started in 2005 by a retail trade group to encourage Americans to shop online on the Monday after Thanksgiving, were up mid-afternoon by 15 percent from a year ago, according to data from IBM Benchmark. (AP Image)

The organizations, said to be from Belgium, Denmark, France, Romania and the United Kingdom, helped take down the sites as part of Project Cyber Monday 3 and Project Transatlantic, ICE says.